DIY Angry Birds - just in time for Christmas

All credit for this amazing idea goes to my amazing friend

Stori Spotten.

When her and her husband posted this idea on facebook

I just knew I had to share it with the cyber world.

The picture pretty much tells you all you need to know,

but for those of you like me who want more details,

come back for when I hear back from Stori

as to what she used to draw on the store-bought bouncy balls.

I am guessing she used paint or sharpies.

What's your guess?

Stori's answer

I used a little bit of everything, sharpies, paint & even a little green nailpolish(which i already had) on the pigs noses to give them a little depth. lol I got my paint at lowed they have in any color for around 2.97

Wha-la.

Easiest and coolest

and quite possibly the cheapest

Christmas gift for the season.

It will be perfect to give to your kids on Christmas morning

when you have a million assorted cardboard boxes

to put to good use.

Thanks Stori for having a brilliant mind.

And for being an awesome friend

and letting me be the one to crack the story on my

little personal blog.

I think I am going to get millions of hits this month.

December's Writing Contest

As you all know, I like to have a contest every month. I want to engage you all, my wonderful readers.

Last month, the contest was easy, all you had to do was leave me a comment to win a half-tee.

This morning Lori Cruze was chosen as #5 on random.org. She is going to be sooo excited.

Congrats Lori. Thanks for being a reader and a friend. 

Now, when are you going to give me something free? Huh?

This month I am going to do something a little different. I guess your chances of winning will be pretty high because I don't expect too many people to participate.

I'm hosting a writing contest.
I used to love Scribbit's writing contests
before Michelle went a-wall.
I even got an honorable mention once.
It was one of my most proud moments.

Anyhow, I have always loved sappy Christmas stories.

I know that the stories are everywhere and everyone has their own that should be told.

So now it's your chance.

Write down your story,

post it somewhere online, 

and leave me a comment on this post

with your name and story url.

The contest will end on December 20th

and I will announce the winner

shortly before or after Christmas.

It depends on my wrapping situation.

I will get a friend to help me choose the winner.

The amount of tears shed while reading your story

will determine the winner.

Trust me, this won't be hard,

I cry at everything

and I will choose an equally emotional friend

to help me pick the winner.

If you win,

you will be sent our own copy of my favorite Christmas story

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

You will also have some mean bragging rights.

Like I will stick the word WINNER

on the above jpeg

and you can post it on your blog.

Let me take this moment to thank all those who made my own Christmas stories possible.

You forever live in our hearts.

2009 2010

I hope this year will be our year to start

paying it forward.

And I thank God for that.

KB

KittyBear has been consuming my energy.

She's been missing for five days.

She is our beloved cat of seven years.

I've blogged about her before

here, here, here, here, and here.

I had to go to the pound yesterday 

to see if she was there.

Don't go to the pound.

Ever.

It's not all fun and happy like

Hotel for Dogs

or 

Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

It's sad and depressing

and will make an animal hoarder

out of the most sane of people.

Last night I sincerely had to hand

KB over to God.

I could feel myself

getting more and more depressed.

If I let my thinking fester

I may end up in bed for months.

So, I just said,

"God, I am giving KB to you now."
You would be amazed at how fast

doing that works in any given situation.

I know you are all gonna think

I am totally whacky.

Who gets that upset over a cat?

Well, I do.

That's who.

I won't even go into my

conspiracy theories

of my serial killing neighbor.

However,

God has a way of putting things into perspective.

I got a facebook message10 minutues ago

and someone's teenage daughter

has been missing from my city

for the same exact amount of time

that our KittyBear has been gone?

Do you think they

could have run off together?

Don't tell me otherwise, please.

That is my happy place.

A lonely teenage girl and KB 

snuggled together in a boxcar somewhere.

Don't forget that tomorrow is your last day to win a free half-tee!

Memorizing Scripture

After the last general conference

one of the things

we decided to work on as a family

is memorizing scripture.

Richard G Scott gave a great address

on scriptures being our friends.

It got me thinking about how many times

God has spoken to me through a verse

of scripture running through my head.

I thought I better work harder at giving scriptures

to the girls so that in their time of need

God will be able to speak to them through

the scriptures that are stored in their brain.

We started with my favorite scripture.

This verse has been there with me

through a whole lot of hard stuff.

Proverbs 3:5-6

We all took a turn writing a line.

Caroline even got a turn.

As we all cited the scripture together

for the first time

Caroline was quick to correct us that

after path

we are all to say

scribble scribble scribble

circle.

How dare we leave out her part?

How many of you bet

that someday in the near future

God will speak to my girls

by letting them hear

the words

scribble scribble scribble circle

in their minds and hearts

when they need it the most?

Our Little Monkey

Happy Thanksgiving
to you and yours

from us and ours.

I think we win the cute contest.

Ouch

A few weeks ago LG confided in me that he had fallen in the shower.

He had a boo-boo and I wasn't very sympathetic.

"How old are you?" I asked. "70?"

Then, just days later, I fell in the shower

and he was so sweet about it.

I did fall way more violently

as there were cleaning agents and a trash can involved

but still.

Sometimes I know I got the better end of the deal.

I am so glad that there are those times

to even out the ones when I wonder

what the heck I was thinking.

Love you LG!

And I hope we got our falling out of our systems.

Because if this happens when we are 70 or more

one of us is going to end up in the nursing home.

Even more disturbing than the bruise....
my triple chin.

Halloween

I guess I better get these Halloween photos up
before Thanksgiving gets here.

Our girls got some killer deals
at K-mart on their costumes.
Sometimes it pays to be late.
50% off plus another 20% off coupon.
Then I got another discount on Abigail's
because we had to sew a strap on.
I told the girls that we would only spend $5 on each of them.
They gladly subsidized with their own money
so they didn't have to make their own costumes.
I think we spent a total combined of $30.

I can't say that I was disappointed
since making our own costumes
would require my help.

I was going to dress Caroline up

as Shirley Temple

but she barely cooperated

for wings,

so what would have been the point?

Have I told you how much of a handful this kid is?

I wonder where she gets it from?

We dumped Caroline back at home with dad

after knocking on the condos

close to home.

Here are the girls out about in the neighborhood

with our two friends Natassja and India.

It seems we should live somewhere more exotic

than Utah

when we have friends with names like that.

I just loved this shot with the pumpkin.

Notice that we use pillowcases

for carrying Halloween candy.

It's what my mom used to make us do

when we were kids

and the tradition has stuck.

Best costume of the evening.

Obama and his Secret Service agents.

These boys are awesome.

My girls enjoyed following them around the neighborhood

on our perfect weathered evening.

We got a whole lot of candy.

I enjoyed taunting Obama at every door

that us Utahns only give our candy to Republicans

who work for their own stuff.

I'm silly like that.

Family Dance Night

Do you remember this ancient post about the family staying up all night to dance.
We couldn't afford to go to Chuck E Cheese and so we pulled out the old records.

Well now we can afford to go to Chuck E. Cheese but I believe I would rather
travel back in time and do this all over again.
I finally figured out how to post the video and these are so cute.
The girls have grown so fast but I am pleased to report that they still giggle just the same.
And they still think they can dance.

It started out slow. Very Lawrence Welk feeling slow.



Then we moved on to Bob Dylan's song on banjo.
Dad does some tapping and at the end the baby has to join in.


More with dad and baby. Puff the magic dragon.


Then dad goes a little crazy.


A little Beverly Hillbilly's. We were in TN after all.
We have some underwear malfunctioning.
This is when I hope that no sickos have found the blog.
But, if you sickos have found us, make sure you watch this one through
to see the man you will contend with if you come within 50 feet of our daughters.
And then know that I am about 800% more ferocious.


Now dad kindly introduces the two-step to our flapper girls.
Has anybody seen our girls?


And if you've been the loyal watcher,
you will be happy for this finale.
One final laugh for us all.


Good times. Good times.

Living a Consecrated Life

Every 6 months Mormons gather worldwide

to hear from the latter day prophets and apostles.

You may think that sounds crazy,

but trust me, if you were to peek in,

you would be astounded.

Astounded like you were at the feet

of Moses or Noah or Peter, James, or Paul.

For me, every time, the experience is life changing.

This last session in October was especially so.

I wrote down a list of personal questions

that I have been seeking God for answers about

and then I prayerfully listened 

for communication from God

through His messenger The Holy Ghost.

1-How can I know my purpose or mission in life?

2- How will having my own personal goals make me happier?

3-How can I become more physically/mentally healthier? To what level should I commit myself?

4-Why has it been so hard for me to find a job?

5-What about more kids? I want to be done and I want to know now.

6-How long should I wait to finish my education?

7-How can I get more disciplined and make living the gospel priority #1?

8-What do I need to change as a wife and a mother?

I got a whole composition book

of notes

on personal guidelines

for my life.

I hope to share some.

Ian S. Ardern gave a particularly helpful talk.

It was entitled A Time to Prepare. 

Listen to this:

Mastering the techniques needed to
reach our goals includes becoming
the master manager of our time.
Our greatest happiness comes as we tune into the Lord and to those things which bring a lasting reward....Take those things that rob us of our precious time and determine to be their master, rather than allowing them through their addictive nature to be the master of us.

He also said: "Grind distractions to dust."

This talk answered a whole slew of my questions.

From this talk I made myself some new goals

that would assist me in showing God

by the way I use my time

that He is my first priority.

1-Quit wasting time on the computer and looking for validation online.

2-Make a goal to run a 5k.

3-Pray and study every day.

4-Follow the promptings of the spirit on a daily basis.

I've been using my time much more wisely, and I feel a million times happier.

Living a consecrated life isn't a sacrifice, it's one of God's very best blessings.

He looks after each of us individually and speaks to us.

He knows what we need.

I have found that seeking out the Lord in my life

always leads to greater personal satisfaction.